At the request of 10th District Attorney General Steve Crump, TBI special agents began investigating the death of 20-year-old Michael W.T. Womack on July 15. On July 4, McMinn County deputies found Womack's body at the Athens home of Womack's acquaintance, which had also been burglarized. During the investigation, agents and sheriff's department detectives developed information that implicated Thomas P. Odum, 48, Martha A. Thompson, 42, and Amanda L. Britnell, 34.

All three admitted to their participation in the crime. At this time, the circumstances of the crime and its motivation are under investigation.

The suspects were arrested without incident at the home shared by Thompson and Britnell. All three were taken to the McMinn County Jail.